2020 goodbye, 2021 hello - by Rick Kaplan

What a wild ride we had in 2020. When I look back at the past year things have happened that you thought would only happen in a movie. The pandemic hit in February and just like that the whole world changed. We went from going into work, to either working from home or not working at all. Seeing bustling areas to empty streets, and enjoying gatherings with friends and family, to staying home and binge watching TV (Netflix and Amazon Prime couldn’t have been around at a better time). And to top off the craziness the elections were going on, and that was a mess.

Now we have been living in this new world for ten months and we have adjusted our lives and businesses. Some companies were positioned to make the adjustments quickly and some took a little longer to figure things out. With new technologies like Zoom and new software to work remotely it did help ease into operating from anywhere. We have also seen companies coming up with new interior designs to help with social distancing in the workplace. The biggest challenges have been in the restaurants/bars, retail and medical fields, how to fix their issues is going to be tough. So, where does this leave us? Do we make more temporary changes or should we think more permanent? From what I read and hear, I think we need to move more into permanent changes so that next time we will be more prepared. This is the new world we live in and should be embraced not feared.

2021 is here, we all are wearing masks, social distancing, wiping down everything with disinfectant wipes and using hand sanitizer every time we touch anything. I do think that this will subside somewhat but somethings like being extra sanitized isn’t a bad thing. Handshakes and hugs probably will go away for a while, that does make some happy and others need that contact and it will come back. Bottom line is we have been taught many lessons from all of this, most important is that things could change in an instant and we should be prepared. We are all in this together so be kind, support each other and everything will be fine. All of us at the Journal would like to thank all of our clients for their continued support and wish you a Happy Healthy New Year!

Rick Kaplan is the media/marketing director at NEREJ/NYREJ, Norwell, Mass.